Preparation

Sift together sifted flour (3 cups) and salt into a bowl. Repeat sifting into another bowl (flour will have been sifted 3 times total).

Beat together butter (2 sticks) and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes in a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment or 6 to 8 minutes with a handheld mixer. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low and add half of flour, then all of cream, then remaining flour, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down side of bowl, then beat at medium-high speed 5 minutes. Batter will become creamier and satiny.

Spoon batter into pan and rap pan against work surface once or twice to eliminate air bubbles. Place pan in (cold) oven and turn oven temperature to 350°F. Bake until golden and a wooden pick or skewer inserted in middle of cake comes out with a few crumbs adhering, 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Cool cake in pan on a rack 30 minutes. Run a thin knife around inner and outer edges of cake, then invert rack over pan and invert cake onto rack to cool completely.

Cooks' note:

Cake keeps, covered well with plastic wrap or in an airtight container, at room temperature 5 days.

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Reviews

I was looking for a pound cake recipe. It's a certain taste that I'm looking for. I have tried many pound cake recipes, tweaking and all. I made this cake really late in the evening around 9:30 pm. Reading the reviews first. I made some mental notes. I didn't have an angel food cake pan that didn't have a false bottom but I do own several bundt pans. Two things, I started at 300° degree oven. Checked the cake in 40 minutes it was cooking to slow. I turned it up to 325° degrees and cooked for a total of 1 hr and 45 minutes. That is a long time for cake. Did not do the final mix for 5-6 minutes. The cake was silky in one to two minutes. I was kind of skeptical about that part. If you mix too long it makes the cake tough. I guess that's why cake flour was used. I had no problem getting the cake out of the pan. I use a spray called "bakers joy". Not a problem. It's too late to cut and taste, it's still cooling. The cake looks gorgeous, keeping my fingers crossed that it taste just as good! Will give a rating tomorrow after tasting. For now a 3 just because it's gorgeous

Epicurious trained baker/cook here, started with my first mag subscription 2007. Before that if it didn't come in a box I could not make it, seriously. Love Elvis Presley's pound cake. If you don’t have cake flour make your own. Google. I follow the directions to a T and my oven, temperature tested with oven thermometers set at 350° turns out the perfect cake, time after time. I love the texture and vanilla flavor of this fine crumb cake. Can't keep it in the house. Try adding brown sugar pineapples and maraschino cherries to the bottom of the prepared bundt pan. Turn the cake into a pineapple upside down recipe and watch it disappear. Today I'm adding homemade candied walnuts to the bottom of the pan and a coffee cake struesal topping. Let your imagination fly or not; any way you bake this cake it's out of this world good! Thank you Epicurious!

Update to my below most recent review. The ever so thin burnt top, which ends up to be the bottom of the cake was so thin that I was able to slice that off. While I used the amount of sugar called for, we didn't find it overly sweet. The next time I make it I will cook on 325°F or even 300°F and maybe try convection bake too.

I've made this cake dozens of times following the recipe exactly. Tonight's cake started to burn after 15 min. Yes, cold oven at 350 degrees. My only alteration was this time I used a bunt pan [3 qt.] vs my tapered pan 10" tube pan and Kerry Gold unsalted butter versus my usual Land o' Lakes unsalted butter. I lowered temperature to 300 and cooked until the center was approximately 210 degrees f. I think I can save it if I just cut off the bulging, dark brown top. I even weighed my sifted cake flour [4 oz. per cup]. Not sure where it went wrong. Oven temperature is fine too because I had cooked a chicken earlier in the day. Will try again because I know how awesome this cake is.

Followed recipe as-is. Easy to make, came out perfectly, but as others have mentioned the taste is like eating straight white sugar. We tried pairing it with plain whipped cream and tart berries. Still terrible. Sorry, Elvis. This one is not a keeper.

i made this recipe and it has the moistest, nicest grain of any cake i've ever made. it looks just like the picture. maybe it's the extra 5 minutes beating which i will try in another recipe. i believe elvis had quite a sweet tooth. for me, this cake was too sweet - 3 cups of sugar? it got eaten but i won't make it again. as others have mentioned, it is a big cake. i used an old angel food cake tin i've had for about 50 years now.

This cake is definitely not for high altitude. At 6200 feet it was a total disaster. I thought I would give it a try because of another's review at 5200 feet. Cake rose and fell like a rock. Burned around edges and a very coarse texture also hollow in the centers. Stuck like glue to my 12 mini bundt pans. Probably take a month of soaking to get those clean. LOL

Every holiday, I am asked to make this cake. I have given the recipe to friends, family and co-workers and their friends. The best cake I have ever tasted and so easy to make. Have taught my 8 year old granddaughter how to make it. Makes a delicious base for strawberry shortcake, too. Enjoy....

Pickypk says: They left nothing but the crumbs. This cake got better as it sat. Lasted a full week. Baked it to take to the beach to have toasted with coffee for breakfast. Actually went out and bought a bundt pan while there to bake another! Made strictly as directed and no problems whatsoever. Oh, caution: you will be buying a larger bathing suit if you bake another! You have been warned.

Just made this....absolutely delicious. Followed instructions to the letter.
But needed a bigger Tube Pan...........overflowed. CANNOT locate a Tube Pan of size (10 x 4.5) as recommended anywhere on the internet. Any reader suggestions?

I made this cake exactly as printed. When I find a recipe that interests me enough to make it I certainly don't want to make a recipe based on someone adding a little of that... eliminating a little. No offense meant. Just my personal preference. I cannot figure out why people rate a recipe when it's not the recipe! It's been altered. At any rate, I made it for one of the desserts for a baby shower I gave last weekend. It was a huge hit and the first dessert to go! I also provided the link to 12 of the women who attended. It was delicious just as is!

Saw this recipe recently, and have wanted to make it ever since! I finally got to it tonight... its fabulous! Lots of reviews said its too sweet (like thats a bed thing), but its a cake so it should be sweet.
I followed the recipe, and loved seeing it come together....the silkiness of the batter---oh my! The only thing i did that wasnt listed was i lined my pan with parchment. I prefer that whenever i can.
Elvis is still the King, and this is the kjng of pound cakes! Yumm!

This cake turned out beautifully. Listened to reviews and used 5 eggs (they were very large organic farmer's eggs) and used Kerrygold Irish butter so reduced salt to 1/2 tsp. and reduced sugar to 2.5 cups. Also have an oven that runs hot so after 30 min reduced temp to 325. 1 hour and 5 minutes total. Also I added zest from 1 lemon, which is subtle but think it really adds something. The 'crust' is delicious. It has a sugary crunch and the inside is delicate and if you don't over bake it, a perfect moistness. Made it for a friend who requested pound cake for a birthday -- used a fancy bundt pan and it looked beautiful. Served it with grilled peaches and fresh whipped cream. Delish!

I heart pound cake with a passion. This is only the second recipe I make though and I have to say, while it does differ a bit as far as ingredients go to the one I'm used to making, the taste is not that much different. So erring on the side of caution based on previous reviews, I decided I would add less eggs and sugar. I ended up only using 5 eggs and a little over 2 cups of sugar. I figured I could always add more after sampling batter. Also, maybe triple sifting would give cake a more springy texture but ain't nobody got time for that. I sifted once directly over mixing bowl and that bad baby still came out great. Very simple process and will definitely make again. Thanks!

Came across this recipe yesterday,, and couldn't relax until I made it. I love pound cake and have made it many times with many recipes. I cut the sugar a half cup as suggested by so many here, and it was still plenty sweet . I also used Kerrygold salted butter -expensive but so worth it when butter flavor is important. I baked it in a cold oven @ 300 in a cast aluminum bundt pan which holds a lot of heat . It was done in an hour and 20 minutes. It came out very nice. Texture is just right - not too dense or too heavy. Nicely browned. Taste was delicious, though not stellar. First mistake was using kosher salt. Not enough salt for the measure. It was a little bland. Next time I'll use the same measure of fine salt. Also, it was a tad eggier than I like. I would try eliminating an egg if I knew the leavening wouldn't be affected. (Baking powder?? ). I think a bit of grated lemon rind would also be a nice addition. In conclusion, though, I think just using enough salt might have brought out the flavours better and balanced out the eggy taste.

Very good flavor. However, do not use a pan with removable bottom. Although the recipe warns against this, based on a previous review, I decided to give it a try. Big mistake! Batter leaked out of pan and created a big mess. Will try this recipe again after getting the appropriate pan.

I followed the recipe exactly and the cake turned out nicely. I read the comments about excessive sweetness and it tasted like normal pound cake to me - they are always sweet. I served it with homemade blueberry jam and fresh strawberries. I tested it at 1 hour's cooking time and the middle seemed a little spongy and I didn't pick up any crumbs on my toothpick, so I left it in for the full 1-1/4 hour. I may pull it at an hour next time to see if there is any difference. Also, a little bit of the crust stuck to the pan, so next time I will butter and spray prior to flouring. Finally, I was able to use a tube pan with a sealing removable bottom with no problem. Not sure why a non-removable bottom was specified, unless there was concern about a non-sealable bottom.

Fairly easy to make, just time consuming to sift so much and to get ingredients right temperature. Followed listed recipe, except didn't cream it for the full 8 minutes because I didn't have time, more like 4 minutes. Ended up baking for about 1:18 min. Though, for the first hour, I had a cookie sheet on the oven shelf beneath it (to catch spillage, though there was none) and that might have slowed it down a bit.
All in all, the cake is two sweat for me and didn't have that perfect pound cake taste. I actually found it to be to moist, to sweet, and to dense. I've used other recipes that came out near perfect before. All that complaining aside, though, it's still cake, and it will most certainly be enjoyed.

Super Sweet. I like my share of butter, sugar, and vanilla but this was way too much. The sweet overpowered the vanilla. I love vanilla use Madagascar vanilla bean thick 2 table spoons....so yes....way to much sugar. Cake still in the oven. Had enough to do a quick microwave cup came. I have had much better recipes. Going back.

Just finished this delicious cake! My bake time was 50 minutes at 300 degrees. I think my oven is special - it is super hot, that's why I lowered the temp. I added 2 tablespoons of almond flavor and 2 of vanilla. Some said add half a cup of flavored coffee creamer and half of heavy cream, so I did. I had Bailey's Butter Pecan and WOW. I also only used 6 eggs and 2 and a half cups of sugar.